When I complete college my goal is to become an automotive engineer. I know that there is good money in it, and it would be a fun thing to do. I also know that engineers are in high demand, but the American automotive industry is collapsing. My dad who worked for Ford for 35 years, is a bit concerned about his pension. As an engineer I would try to design more fuel efficient cars, that would help people save money and help save the industry.
The U.S. dominated the auto market for over half a century. The major companies were Ford founded in 1903, GM founded in 1908 and Chrysler, founded in 1925 . Europe was also home to a major automotive industry. The major company that emerged was Mercedes Benz. Their parent company is Daimler, who later merged with Chrysler. The big three ended up being GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
All 3 of the big 3 aren’t so big anymore, and are losing money fast. This is putting thousands of people out of jobs. Since it mainly impacts Detroit, many have moved to find new jobs. This has taken Detroit out of the top 10 largest cities list. On the other hand, the Japanese companies such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan are doing much better. They are building better, cheaper and more fuel efficient cars. These cars will save you money and gas, but it also hurts the American industry (Rae).
Personally I would have no problems buying a foreign vehicle. It is basically up to the individual whether or not to buy a foreign vehicle. According to the Harbour Report on automaker productivity, Toyota won for fastest all together assembly with everything and Nissan won with basic body together. The big 3 have been making a come back and GM almost caught up with Toyota. Chrysler didn’t do as well. They had the worst average assembly time of all of them. Toyota was number one in the world for automotive sales, in the 2007 May quarter. That takes us to another trouble facing the auto market, fuel efficiently.
The companies are working on new ways of conserving fuel, since the price of it is so high. Due to these high fuel prices the sales of SUV’s have shot down. This is because the SUV’s consume so much gas, people do not want to pay as much. Yet the automotive companies still make them. Why? This is because some people still like the thought of an SUV. Some people also need them for the type of work that they do. It is also a great family car.
One solution that the companies have come up with is hybrid vehicles. Hybrid means that they use two power sources such as electricity and gas. I know that Chevrolet has a new mostly electric car called the Volt, coming out soon. It almost eliminates the need to go to the gas station. The only problem with this is that the battery will be very expensive. Another alternative fuel is ethanol. This is made from natural grown recourses, making it nearly impossible to run out of it. These of course are not the only alternative fuels. Examples of more alternative fuels are hydrogen, biodiesel and methanol. Of course all of the companies are trying to use these alternative fuels.
I had first thought that I wanted to end up working for the Japanese, but now I realize that this is not so. I would rather work for an American company, where I could help bring them back up.
Does Toyota make more money than GM.
Are the Big 3 recovering
Why exactly are the companies doing s Works Cited
Barkholz, David. “Harbour: Detroit 3 Boost Productivity.” Automotive News. Grolier Online Dictionaries. 17 July 2007
“Chrysler Overview.” Edmunds Automotive Network. Chrysler. 19 July 2007
Rae, John B. "automotive industry." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2007. Grolier Online. 19 July 2007
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